Bobbie Chen
@bobbiechen.com
Product, platforms, UX, and more - writing about connections at digitalseams.com
Me as a birdwatcher messing with the guy interviewing me:
"After a great deal of practice, many bird-watchers can identify a bird by the ‘way it looks’... They even have a name for this brute property, which they call the bird’s ‘jizz’."
"After a great deal of practice, many bird-watchers can identify a bird by the ‘way it looks’... They even have a name for this brute property, which they call the bird’s ‘jizz’."
October 18, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Me as a birdwatcher messing with the guy interviewing me:
"After a great deal of practice, many bird-watchers can identify a bird by the ‘way it looks’... They even have a name for this brute property, which they call the bird’s ‘jizz’."
"After a great deal of practice, many bird-watchers can identify a bird by the ‘way it looks’... They even have a name for this brute property, which they call the bird’s ‘jizz’."
Which is not to say we're all doing basic research, but I think it's much happier to reserve time for seemingly-unimportant work. It helps thread the needle of the @visakanv.com meme that lives in my head:
October 4, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Which is not to say we're all doing basic research, but I think it's much happier to reserve time for seemingly-unimportant work. It helps thread the needle of the @visakanv.com meme that lives in my head:
A clever phishing attack today against developers on GitHub, using GitHub issue notifications to send a legit-looking message from an official GitHub email. Another supply chain attack attempt?
![📌 GitHub x Gitcoin Developer Fund 2025
Dear community,
GitHub and Gitcoin are launching the next stage of the GitHub Developer Fund, a program on Gitcoin created to recognize and support contributors who advance open-source technologies and public goods.
Your GitHub account has been identified as eligible for this extended phase. We believe that every type of contribution — from one-time efforts to long-term involvement — shapes the future of open source.
About the program:
Funding model: Quadratic Funding, amplifying community impact through a matching pool
Total pool: $15,000,000 USDC
Selection criteria: Engagement in the ecosystem and potential for future contributions - eligibility includes both regular contributors and maintainers, not only project founders
Next step:
To complete your preliminary registration and confirm eligibility, please verify your wallet via Gitcoin Passport.
This step ensures fairness, prevents Sybil attacks, and requires no sensitive personal data. The process takes less than a minute: simply connect your wallet and sign a message.
📝 Please advance to authentication and submission here: https://grants.github.com/apply
Final participation and allocation of funds require a valid Gitcoin Passport score. Full program terms are available on our portal.
Best regards,
GitHub Developer Fund Team
In partnership with Gitcoin
This correspondence was dispatched to you as a subscribed GitHub member.
©2025 GitHub, Inc. All rights reserved.
Corporate location: 88 Colin P Kelly Jr St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA.
[Adjust notification settings] | [Privacy Policy]
---
At the end of the message, several people are tagged, which triggers a notification email from an official GitHub email](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5kr3l2clcsd2b6w6j4be77x7/bafkreia7dabtulize4n6ze677fd7hybauaqod6jjxn52sfessal4sg45pa@jpeg)
September 20, 2025 at 1:13 AM
A clever phishing attack today against developers on GitHub, using GitHub issue notifications to send a legit-looking message from an official GitHub email. Another supply chain attack attempt?
Shoutout @andrewhinton.bsky.social for adding to the ~20% of Bluesky images with alt text.
For everyone who wants that number to go up (myself included): consider turning on "Require alt text before posting" under Settings > Accessibility to never forget again!
For everyone who wants that number to go up (myself included): consider turning on "Require alt text before posting" under Settings > Accessibility to never forget again!
September 10, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Shoutout @andrewhinton.bsky.social for adding to the ~20% of Bluesky images with alt text.
For everyone who wants that number to go up (myself included): consider turning on "Require alt text before posting" under Settings > Accessibility to never forget again!
For everyone who wants that number to go up (myself included): consider turning on "Require alt text before posting" under Settings > Accessibility to never forget again!
This is the best form of landmark photo and you can't convince me otherwise
August 9, 2025 at 2:14 AM
This is the best form of landmark photo and you can't convince me otherwise
I had some vanity milestones for my blog but none of them involved being aggregated into an AI ""news summary"" site
![Written by [redacted] Bot
Published on June 23rd, 2025 2:24 PM
Social sharing options: link, X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5kr3l2clcsd2b6w6j4be77x7/bafkreihn54l3epfeib4xwalulgpzouodfugulubnn2juanth7p7lkymttq@jpeg)
August 3, 2025 at 8:08 PM
I had some vanity milestones for my blog but none of them involved being aggregated into an AI ""news summary"" site
"Watch What I Do" is a great read. If you're not paying attention, lots of it could refer directly to few-shot prompting for LLMs, or low-code/no-code tools, or RPA, etc. but it's from 1993 and Pygmalion itself is from 1975.
July 18, 2025 at 3:28 AM
"Watch What I Do" is a great read. If you're not paying attention, lots of it could refer directly to few-shot prompting for LLMs, or low-code/no-code tools, or RPA, etc. but it's from 1993 and Pygmalion itself is from 1975.
Saw some excellent birds in Sausalito this weekend
July 13, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Saw some excellent birds in Sausalito this weekend
Just spun up bademails.org - surprisingly, lots of people are unaware of services to create throwaway emails.
Although throwaway emails can be useful for privacy, they're also massively used for spam and free trial abuse - this site is a lightweight way for site owners to check on their accounts.
Although throwaway emails can be useful for privacy, they're also massively used for spam and free trial abuse - this site is a lightweight way for site owners to check on their accounts.
June 30, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Just spun up bademails.org - surprisingly, lots of people are unaware of services to create throwaway emails.
Although throwaway emails can be useful for privacy, they're also massively used for spam and free trial abuse - this site is a lightweight way for site owners to check on their accounts.
Although throwaway emails can be useful for privacy, they're also massively used for spam and free trial abuse - this site is a lightweight way for site owners to check on their accounts.
Larry Tesler: "Z was next to X, C, and V on the U.S. QWERTY keyboard. But its shape also symbolized the “Do-Undo-Redo” triad: top rightward stroke = step forward; middle leftward stroke = step back; bottom rightward stroke = step forward again. So X, C, and even V were not novel..."
June 29, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Larry Tesler: "Z was next to X, C, and V on the U.S. QWERTY keyboard. But its shape also symbolized the “Do-Undo-Redo” triad: top rightward stroke = step forward; middle leftward stroke = step back; bottom rightward stroke = step forward again. So X, C, and even V were not novel..."
The periodic table of image formats strongly implies the existence of a .hog file 🐷
May 28, 2025 at 2:34 PM
The periodic table of image formats strongly implies the existence of a .hog file 🐷
I see they're updating the street signs like I update my document names
May 21, 2025 at 2:43 PM
I see they're updating the street signs like I update my document names
Here's a baffling use of Google Classroom invites as a messaging app:
May 21, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Here's a baffling use of Google Classroom invites as a messaging app:
A grain of truth in every skeet
April 9, 2025 at 11:15 PM
A grain of truth in every skeet
And of course, here's some blackout poetry based on our favorite IBM training manual excerpt. I'm not sure of the attribution here, the earliest image I could find was via Tumblr user virtualgirladvance:
April 5, 2025 at 3:38 AM
And of course, here's some blackout poetry based on our favorite IBM training manual excerpt. I'm not sure of the attribution here, the earliest image I could find was via Tumblr user virtualgirladvance:
My own, based on my recent blog post "Every app is a messaging app":
April 5, 2025 at 3:38 AM
My own, based on my recent blog post "Every app is a messaging app":
Whipped up a quick blackout poetry tool today - here's one by Austin Kleon, on artists:
April 5, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Whipped up a quick blackout poetry tool today - here's one by Austin Kleon, on artists:
I am still tempted to pronounce the name like the musical "doit" (IPA: /dɔɪt/, rhymes with exploit), a quick slide upwards after hitting the initial note.
April 4, 2025 at 12:23 AM
I am still tempted to pronounce the name like the musical "doit" (IPA: /dɔɪt/, rhymes with exploit), a quick slide upwards after hitting the initial note.
I realized it would help to include the doit.com branding...
In the logo, "do" and "it" are distinctly separated through color.
In text, the company is branded as DoiT - I hope the dotted "i" helps avoid the dolt confusion.
In the logo, "do" and "it" are distinctly separated through color.
In text, the company is branded as DoiT - I hope the dotted "i" helps avoid the dolt confusion.
April 4, 2025 at 12:23 AM
I realized it would help to include the doit.com branding...
In the logo, "do" and "it" are distinctly separated through color.
In text, the company is branded as DoiT - I hope the dotted "i" helps avoid the dolt confusion.
In the logo, "do" and "it" are distinctly separated through color.
In text, the company is branded as DoiT - I hope the dotted "i" helps avoid the dolt confusion.
Really interesting to watch my semaphore decoder tool creep up in the Google rankings over time. It's actually one of the bigger drivers of traffic to my blog, and I can see traffic spikes related to various puzzle hunt events: bobbiec.github.io/semaphore-de...
March 31, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Really interesting to watch my semaphore decoder tool creep up in the Google rankings over time. It's actually one of the bigger drivers of traffic to my blog, and I can see traffic spikes related to various puzzle hunt events: bobbiec.github.io/semaphore-de...
Robot waiters (which today are like tall Roombas, with wheels instead of legs) already have similar fashion opportunities.
Pudu's Bellabot is more anthropomorphic - it has a face (that emotes!) and a vertical canvas for fashion. Compare it to Bear Robotics' Servi, which is very much utilitarian.
Pudu's Bellabot is more anthropomorphic - it has a face (that emotes!) and a vertical canvas for fashion. Compare it to Bear Robotics' Servi, which is very much utilitarian.
March 28, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Robot waiters (which today are like tall Roombas, with wheels instead of legs) already have similar fashion opportunities.
Pudu's Bellabot is more anthropomorphic - it has a face (that emotes!) and a vertical canvas for fashion. Compare it to Bear Robotics' Servi, which is very much utilitarian.
Pudu's Bellabot is more anthropomorphic - it has a face (that emotes!) and a vertical canvas for fashion. Compare it to Bear Robotics' Servi, which is very much utilitarian.
I wrote about Undo Send and more "Coyote Time" features on Digital Seams: digitalseams.com/blog/gmails-...
March 19, 2025 at 3:31 PM
I wrote about Undo Send and more "Coyote Time" features on Digital Seams: digitalseams.com/blog/gmails-...